Comparative perspectives on Education, Citizenship and Democracy in Norway

The course gives an introduction to the Norwegian society in general with a special focus on the Norwegian school system. Central components in the course are: • Norwegian geography, history, culture, society and politics: Such a general overview is necessary to enable students to understand the Norwegian welfare state and Norwegian education policy. • Norwegian school history in a comparative perspective: The Unitary School has a strong tradition in Norway, and a comparison with other countries' school history helps students understand that school structure and school policies are associated with a particular social, cultural, historical, and political contexts. The comparative perspective will also provide insights that may be valuable to our teacher education. • Norwegian education policy in a comparative perspective: The comparative perspective will be important in the course since it gives the students an opportunity to understand both the Norwegian and their home countries education policy. The comparative perspective also provides insight into other countries' education policy and school structure. • Education for Democracy: Norwegian pupils score high on international measures of democratic knowledge and skills. A comparative perspective on the Norwegian education for democracy is therefore of significant interest, and will be part of the course.

KNOWLEDGE • Knowledge about Norwegian geography, history, culture, society and politics with a special focus on the Norwegian welfare state and Norwegian education policy. • Knowledge about Norwegian school history and educational policy in a comparative perspective, with a focus on the Norwegian unitary school tradition. • To have knowledge of the key perspectives of democratic education, and the Norwegian experience with teaching democracy. SKILLS • To do comparative analysis based on empirical data and literature. • To exercise critical judgment on the reliability and validity of relevant sources • To work independently with academic and didactic issues •To work independently with a scientific text GENERAL COMPETENCE • To stimulate critical reflection among students • Ability to update themselves and reflect on their own teaching practice • Ability to work independently and with others to identify, analyze and solve problems related to teaching social studies

Teaching will be based on: • Lectures and classroom discussion: Teaching would be adapted to the number of students and their knowledge of basic education, as well as their language level, and academic skills. • Student based term-paper presentations: The comparative profile of the course makes student presentations important as a learning strategy. • Practice/ observation/ visit to Norwegian schools: The course should include a period of observation/ visit to a Norwegian school. This period can be used to collect empirical data for individual term papers.